5 no-brainer Mets roster decisions to make this offseason

5) It’s a no-brainer for the NY Mets to use assets to trade for a younger starting pitcher

The free agent market for starting pitchers is deep and yet there are plenty of cons. If the Mets want to do something to really impact the ball club they’ll use their restocked farm system and pull off a trade for a younger starting pitcher. Someone a few years under 30 with at least another year or two of control would be preferred. If it’s only a year he has left, it needs to be a trade and sign situation.

Corbin Burnes has already become the guy most fans would lean into as a target. Shane Bieber was once an option and we should expect a growing belief that the Mets will take a stab at landing Pittsburgh Pirates starter Mitch Keller. There are surely other names out there who will become available. What the Mets can’t do is sit on all of these prospects and assume they’ll all turn into studs.

The Mets do have some promising young pitching prospects who’ve made a name for themselves this year. A guy like Tyler Stuart is proving himself on the farm. What happens when he faces stiffer competition?

Trading movable pieces now for a surer thing feels like a must for the Mets. Their growing abundance of position players ranked highly on the farm should have them searching high and low for a solution.

For all we know, this next generation of Mets minor league arms turns into a trio closer to Jon Niese, Mike Pelfrey, and Dillon Gee than we’d like to admit is possible.